I don't know if you noticed, Babs, but the small and smaller type faces are difficult to read (I've got my browser on medium, so your post are coming out really small). I still can muddle through, however.
The link at the head of this thread is for Miramax's site. The soundtrack is out on December 12th.
Here's the link:
http://www.miramax.com/chicago/index.html
Click on SHOWTIMES -- it's December 27th in limited release to qualify for the Oscar.
chicago
Why thank you for telling me that, I should have realized that there are plenty of folks who have difficulty with smaller text. My bad.
Now, it's really big. The Normal font size is good.
I like the tapes of the live performances, too..... but, they're difficult to find in the video-rental stores. They probably don't fall into the category of "film"????
That is a problem - I had to purchase Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George" as I missed taping it off of PBS. The sound on the videotape is not great so I am hoping the DVD would be better. Netflix.com does have them for rent -- they charge $20.00 a month for four films at a time (you can actually end up watching about eight so it's about $2.50 per rental.
I was using Netflix for about six months -- mainly to be able to rent films that the rental stores just don't carry. Gautam turned me on to a lot of Bollywood cinema and they had all the titles. There's some free rentals when you begin the several programs up to $29.95 per month depending on how many movies you want to have at one time. The pricing includes any taxes and all shipping costs to and from Netflix. It really is great to catch up on films one has never been able to see -- good time to rent Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast," being discussed on the Ebert Great Movies thread.
The Chicago Tribune and the Sun Times as well, have had reviews of the movie and profiles on Zeta-Jones, Zwllweger, and Gere. Except for the brand of their underwear, I think I've read everything there is to know about them. At least everything their publicists are willing to reveal. There have been interesting articles about the murder cases upon which the movie is based, and about the reporter who made the women famous. She also wrote the play upon which the movie is based. Through it all one thing seems clear: Chicago is going to be a real treat. I'm looking forward to it.
LW, do you think there has been an unusual amount of hype connected with movies that have come out in the last couple of months: Gangs of NY, The Hours, Far from Heaven, Catch Me if You Can, Adaptation, and About Schmidt? I am personally happy to see and read all this material, but knowing how closely the publicity agents for the studios and the actors guard their reputations and public images, I wonder how accurate the information is and what is left out that ought to be told. Do you have any thoughts about this?
Saw it at the Ziegfield in NY week before last. I liked the movie a lot -- and this is coming from someone with a background in theater who generally can't stand musicals and couldn't wait to get out of the theater during Moulin Rouge (and would have left early if I hadn't been with three other people). I've talked to a couple of people who've seen both stage and screen versions, both of whom found the latter greatly preferable.
There's a very pissy little review of the movie in the New Yorker. It primarily focuses on criticism of the book, music, and the genre of the musical, then lambasts the film for not being enough of a musical! There's just no pleasing some people, especially when they apparently think that any movie musical is incomplete without Gene Kelly.
Anywho, I thought it was sharp and biting, and appreciated greatly that the focus seemed to be on story and satire rather than on making me want to dance. Superb color pallet's, excellent set and lighting design. People with longer attention spans might decry the editing, but I liked the rapid cutting (which was put on hold just so to add special emphasis to the hanging scene. Very nice work.
Great theater, too.
I agree patiodog, Chicago is a great movie. I also have a theater background (though I do like musicals). But this moved beyond what one could do with Chicago onstage - with the editing and the close-ups. The Cell Block Tango was a favorite of mine. And the leads sang and danced much better than I expected them to.
"Cabaret" had more story content and dialogue with musical interludes that followed the plot. In fact, "Cabaret" was considered revolutionary on the stage as on of the first times since "South Pacific" that Broadway even approached controversial subjects. What's more controversial than Nazism, homosexuality, prostitution -- "Show Boat" featured a plot line on racism as well and precedes them all by many years. A movie is not a stage musical although the PBS presentations of a straightforward filmed staged version such as "Sunday In the Park With George" is really the only way one could present most Sondheim. "Follies" would be a good candidate for a film, bringing back nostalgic memories of all those '20's and 20's Ziegfeld/Busby Berkeley musical films.
Hazlett -- I don't know what they'd have to gain in the hyping of new films by enhancing any of the credentials of those involved but promotional ad writers always bear some scrutiny.
Kander and Ebb's musicals all have strong plot lines and are based on factual material, sometimes from previous writings.
And, speaking of Cabaret, let's not forget The Sound of Music, another musical with an actual plot, featuring Nazis.
That's true, Merry, but it wasn't to make any particular social observation, just part of the true story. "Cabaret" is a scathing satire on Nazism and the Jewish question, moreso in the stage production than the film. The film was more interested in the bi-sexuality of Christopher Isherwood -- well, by the time he ended up in Southern California where I knew him, he was no longer "on the fence." Still, even that was courageous at the time the film was released. "I've slept with him." "Well, so have I!"
The fact that Rodgers and Hammerstein insisted that one particular song stay in "South Pacific," "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught" (I think -- correct me, if I'm wrong) was controversial.
I don't think you're wrong, LW.
Carefully Taught was very controversial in the 50s; still is for some, I guess.
Watching South Pacific and then Cabaret, felt like watching history in the making. I loved everything about South Pacific, but the song, "You've Got to be Carefully Taught," really struck a chord with me since that was when I was beginning to question some of the things my parents believed in. It was done so gently, with a bittersweet irony. It was a beautiful, memorable film.
Then comes Cabaret, with its open homosexuality and decadence. Again, it was thought provoking for someone who had been brought up in such a provincial household. The whole thing was so wild and frenetic and so good!!
I'm looking forward to seeing Chicago. My bloody laptop has no sound so I was unable to hear the clips.
Oh, no, MA -- sometimes I am wrong. Why just last week I thought I was wrong and I wasn't!
Living in Hollywood during my college years certainly gave me an objective view of decadence! Ah, sweet decadence! Some people have no idea what they've missed.
Decadence is in the mind of the beholder.
Or, as the fellow said, I fell in with evil companions...and had the time of my life!
